2 GOINGS ON ABOUT TOWN THE. THE.A TR.E (E. and W. mean East and West of Broadway.) PLA YS BLACK COMEDy-A droll business created by Peter Shaffer and having to do with some difficulties that occur in a South Kensington apartment when the lights go out. John Dex- ter has manipulated the worthy cast very cleverly, but Mr. Shaffer's "White Lies," which serves as a curtain-raiser to "Black Comedy" is a dud. (Ethel Barrymore, 47th St., '/1/. 246-0390. Nightly, except Sundays, at 8 :30. Matinees VVednesdays at 2 and Sat- urdays at 2.30.) DON'T DRINK THE WATER-Lou Jacobi, Peggy Cass, and Dick Libertini are among those pleasantly employed in this farce by Woody Allen. It concerns a Jewish family from N ew- ark that takes a trip behind the Iron Curtain and gets into trouble there. (Morosco, 45th St., W. 246-6230. Nightly, except Sundays, at 8: 30. Matinées Wednesdays at 2 and Sat- urdays at 2 :30.) THE HOMECOMING-Harold Pinter's description of homelife in a North London ménage run by an eccentric widower who unexpectedly finds himself playing host to his eldest son and the son's wife, a girl of vast accessibility. The play is a rickety affair, but the actors who perform in it are uniformly admirable. (Music Box, 45th St., W. 246-4636. Nightly, except Sundays, at 8 :40. Matinees Wednes- days at 2 and Saturdays at 2 :40.) THE STAR-SPANGLED GIRL-Anthony Perkins, Paul Sand, and Sheilah Wells are all young and enthusiastic in this cOlnedy by Neil Simon about a protest publisher, a writing genius, and a former Olympic swimmer in San Fran- cisco, but the end result is pretty dreary. (Plymouth, 45th St., W. 246-9156. Nightly, except Sundays, at 8 :40. Matinees Wednes- days at 2 and Saturdays at 2 :40.) You KNOW I CAN'T HEAR You WHEN THE WATER'S RUN NI NG-A quartet of brief plays by Robert Anderson about sex and concomitant confu- sions. Not overly incisive but fairly funny and beguiling. It is acted by a splendid cast- Martin Balsam, Eileen Heckart, George Grizzard, Joe Silver, and Melinda Dillon- and it is also cleverly directed by Alan Schneider. (Ambassador, 49th St., W. 265- 2533. Nightly, except Sundays, at 8 :30. Mat- inées Wednesdays at 2 and Saturdays at 2:3 0 .) LONG RUNS-CACTUS FLOWER: A trifle by Abe Burrows that has to do with a philandering dentist, his doxy, and his starchy secretary, who eventually blossoms out and nails him for her own. Lauren Bacall and Barry N el- son are among those present. (Royale, 45th St., W. 245-5760. Nightly, except Sundays. at 8 :40. Matinées Wednesdays at 2 and Sat- urdays at 2 :40.) MUSICALS CABARET-An adaptation, by Joe Masteroff, of the John van Druten play "I Am a Camera," \vhich, in turn, was based on Christopher Isherwood's stories about Germany just be- fore the Nazis took control. Never as effec- tive as its source material, but the production numbers are spectacular. Jack Gilford, Lotte Lenya, and Joel Grey are among those in the cast. (Imperial, 45th St., W. 265-2412. Nightly, except Sundays, at 8 :30. Matinées Wednesdays at 2 and Saturdays at 2 :30.) HALLELUJAH, BABy!-The ups and downs of a Negro team-a girl \vho has a lovely voice and a boy who has brains-in the course of more than half a century of struggling against a culture that gives them little heed. Arthur Laurents's book is drab, but there are some solid tunes by J ule Styne, with satis- factory lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green. Leslie U ggams, Allen Case, and Billy Dee Williams head an excellent cast, aug- mented delightfully by Lillian Hayman. (Martin Beck, 45th St., W. 246-6363. Night- I '<>wW .. ð 1 " ---=-- , .w _ . - -' , . ..jh.',';' I r; "'ïï ' .1\1. -.. __-= .... \ ... . J/ -f' \ J) - - . - \ jP'I -w cJ A f . · .... ..Æ ,4, tff cJ ",t\l ,ff7A >> .,." , ,\ J. ... ]jÞ' -' . AC. "A.,,'1 --- A CONSCIENTIOUS CALENDAR OF E VENTS OF INTEREST S-M.T 6/ 71 8 .W.T.F.S 44th St., W. 695-5858 Nightly, except Sun- days, at 8 :30. Matinées Wednesdays at 2 and Saturdays at 2 :30.). . . MAME: A musical interpretation of the Patrick Dennis novel about an antic aunt and an orphaned nephew c01l1mitted to her care. Angela Lansbury is the lady in question. (Winter Garden, Broadway at 50th St. 245-4878. Nightly, ex- cept Sundays, at 8 :30. Matinées Wednesdays at 2 and Saturdays at 2 :30.) OFF BROADWAY (Confirmation of dates, curtain times, and casts is distinctly advisable.) MusIc THEATRE OF LINCOLN CENTER-A revival of SOUTH PACIFIC, \vith Florence Henderson and Giorgio Tozzi. (N e\v York State Theatre, Lincoln Center. TR 7-4727. Nightly, except Sundays, at 8 :30. Matinées Wednesdays at 2 and Saturdays at 2 :30.) ABSOLUTELY FREEEE-A rock-'n' -roll concert by the Mothers of Invention, an all-male group. The music is exciting, but the question of decibel tolerance does arise, for some of the elec- tronic monkeyshines are deafening. (Garrick Theatre, 152 Bleecker St 777-4530. Nightly, except Mondays, at 8 :30 and 10:30, and Fri- days and Saturdays at 12 :30.) AMERICA H URRAH-A trio of plays by J ean- Claude van ltallie (Pocket Theatre, 100 Third Ave., at 13th St. YU 2-0115. Tuesdays through Fridays, and Sundays, at 8 :30, and Saturdays at 7 and 10. Matinées Sundays at 3.) ARMS AND THE MAN-A revival of Shaw's comedy. The performance just about gets by, but the play, now over seventy years old, is as fresh as paint. (Sheridan Square Playhouse, 99 Seventh Ave. S., at Sheridan Sq. CH 2-3432. Tuesdays through Fridays, and Sundays, at 8 :40, and Saturdays at 7 :30 and 10 :30. Mati- nées Sundays at 3. ) THE FANTASTICKs-And so on. (Sullivan Street Playhouse, 181 Sullivan St., at Bleecker St. OR 4-3838. Tuesdays through Fridays and Sundays, at 8 :40, and Saturdays at 7 and 10. Matinées Sundays at 3.) FORTUNE AND MEN'S EYES-A play by John Her- bert (Actors Playhouse, 100 Seventh Ave. S., at Sheridan Sq. OR 5-1036. Tuesdays through Fridays, and Sundays, at 8 :30, and Saturdays at 7 :30 and 10 :30. 1fatinées Sun- days at 3.) THE MAD SHow-A musical revue with a cast made up of a quintet of highly ingratiating young performers. Lightweight satire is the main ingredient. The piece has music by Mary Rodgers. (New Theatre, 154 E. 54th St PL 2-0440. Tuesdays through Thursdays at 9; Fridays and Saturdays at 7 :30 and 10 :30; and Sundays at 7 :30 Matinées Satur- days and Sundays at 3.) MAN OF LA MANcHA-David Atkinson is now playing the dual role of Don Quixote and his creator in this musical by Dale Wasserman. The music, by Mitch Leigh, is commendable, as is the staging, by Albert Marre, but the playas a '" hole is spotty, and the choreog- raphy, by Jack Cole, runs to burlesque-house routines. (ANT A Washington Square The- atre, 40 W. 4th St., between Washington Square and Broadway. 674-5600. Tuesdays through Saturdays at 8: 30. Matinées Wed- nesdays at 2 and Saturdays and Sundays at 2:3 0 .) THE UNKNOWN SOLDIER AND HIS WIFE-Peter Usti- nov's attempt at a satire on war through the ages fritters away whatever force it might have had into facetiousness. There are how- ever, quite a few entertaining spots, and the performances are generally good. Those of Brian Bedford, as a recurring general, and of Bob Dishy, as a redundant German, are especially good. (Vivian Beaumont Theatre, 150 W. 65th St. 362-7616. Nightly, except Sundays, at 8. Matinees Wednesdays and Saturdays at 2.) YOU'RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BRowN-This musi- cal adaptation of Charles M. Schulz's "Pea- nuts" is a total delight. The songs, by Clark j \ 4 10 II 5 12. ..., 9 ly, except Sundays, at 8 :30. Matinees Wednesdays at 2 and Saturdays at 2 :30.) Do! I Do!- Tom Jones' book and lyrics for this version of J an de Hartog's play "The Fourposter" are something less than scintil- lating, and Harvey Schmidt's music is very simple, but the production is glossy, and the performances of Mary Martin and Robert Preston, who make up the entire cast, are superb The direction, by Gower Champion, is laudable indeed. (46th Street Theatre, 46th St., W. 246-4271. Nightly, except Sundays, at 8 :35.) ILLYA DARLING-Melina Mercouri is charming in this musical adaptation of the film "Never on Sunday," but it has little else to recommend it. (Mark Hellinger, 51st St., W. 757-7064. Nightly, except Sundays at 8 :30. Matinees Wednesdays at 2 and Saturdays at 2 :30.) LONG RUNS-THE APPLE TREE: Short stories by Mark Twain, Frank R. Stockton, and Jules F eiffer played out by Barbara Harris, Alan AIda, and Larry Blyden. Carmen Alvarez substitutes for Miss Harns at the matinee performances. (Shubert, 44th St., W. 246- 5990. Nightly, except Sundays, at 8 :30. Matinées Wednesdays at 2 and Saturdays at 2 :30.). . . FIDDLER ON THE ROOF: Herschel Ber- nardi in a saga derived from some Sholom Aleichem tales. (Majestic, 44th St., W. 246- 073 0 . Nightly, except Sundays, at 8 :30. Matinées Wednesdays at 2 and Saturdays at 2:30.). .. HELLO, DOLLY!: Betty Grable now has the role of Sara Teasdale. ( St. James, ,... -fi- v THE NEW YORKER, published weekly by The New Yorker lVlagazine, Inc., 25 West 43rd St., New York, N. Y. 10036; R. H. Fleischmann. publisher; R. Hawley Truax, chairman of the board; A. J. Russell, Jr, president; P. F. Fleischmann, executive vIce-president, lVlilton Greenstein, and JYlarvin Rosenthal, vice-presidents; J. Kennard Bosee 3rd, treasurer; Myra L. Fries, secretary and comptroller; David D. lVlichaels, advertising director; William P. Buxton, advertising manager Branch advertising offices: 6 North lVIichigan Ave., Chicago, III 60602; 155 lVlont- gomery St., San Francisco, Calif. 94 1 04; 2975 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, Calif. 90005; 1365 Peachtree St., N. E., Atlanta, Ga. 30309; 21 Grosvènor St., London, W. I. Vol. XLIII, No. 24, August 5, 1967. Second-class postage paid at New York, N. Y., and at additional mailing offices. Authorized as second- class mail by the Post Office Department, Ottawa, Canada, and for payment of postage in cash. @ 1967 by The New Yorker lVlagazine, Inc., in the United States and Canada. All nghts reserved. No part of this periodical may be reproduced without the consent of The New Yorker. Printed in U.S.A. Subscription rates: U.S. and possessions, I year, $8.00; Canada, Latin America, and Spain, $9.00; other foreign, $11.00. BOOKS THE CURRENT CINEMA lETTER FROM GENEVA MUSICAL EVENTS: JAZZ CONCERTS THE RACE TRACK Page 82 64 70 80 68 THE NEW YOR.KER. 2..:5 VEST 4JR.D STRE.E. 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